A 57-year-old man lost his life on a St. Louis highway this week after he was struck by an SUV. The pedestrian accident occurred late Monday morning, just before the clock struck 12.

Just before the morning turned to afternoon, the man was driving his truck along Interstate 55 in Maryland when an item blew out of the back and landed on the road somewhere near Park Avenue.

When the man exited his truck he had no idea that he would be struck by another vehicle. The man was no longer protected by the large truck and was exposed to serious injury. As he was trying to retrieve the item, an SUV driven by a 54-year-old woman ran him over.

Emergency medical personnel were immediately called to the scene of the accident. The 57-year-old man was transported to a nearby hospital. Although doctors attempted to save his life, the treatment could not prevent the injuries from taking over. He did at the hospital sometime that same day.

Traffic was rerouted for nearly three hours while accident investigators attempted to reconstruct what happened in the crash and what caused the woman to strike the pedestrian. The road was reopened at approximately 2:45 in the afternoon. Police have not reported what item had fallen from the truck but did confirm the identity of the driver. We have chosen not to release the names of those involved.

When a pedestrian is killed in an accident at the hands of a negligent driver, the victim's family can file a wrongful death lawsuit. Even though money cannot bring a person back, a lawsuit can often make a negligent party make the changes necessary to prevent further accidents.

Source: St. Louis Today, "Police ID man hit, killed on Interstate 55 in St. Louis," Feb. 7, 2012